This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from an application for DISPLAY earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Dec. 27, 2000 and there duly assigned Serial No. 83362/2000 by that Office.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an on screen display (OSD) controller assembly mounted in a displaying apparatus, and more particularly, to an OSD controller assembly including a knob support and a printed circuit board support formed in a monolithic structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
OSD controller units have been mounted in a displaying apparatus, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor or a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, to allow a user to control various OSD functions of the displaying apparatus. Typically, the OSD controller unit is disposed in a space between a front cover and a rear cover of the LCD monitor. Since the LCD monitor is minimized in size and in thickness, the space for installing the OSD controller unit within the LCD monitor becomes smaller and narrower, and the OSD controller unit is required to be compact and slim to be mounted within the limited space of the LCD monitor. The conventional OSD controller unit, however, is disadvantageous due to the large number of bulky components compared to the narrow and small space between the front cover and the rear cover.
The LCD monitor mounted with the conventional OSD controller unit is shown in FIGS. 5 through 8. The LCD monitor includes a cover casing 101 defining an outer appearance of the LCD monitor, an LCD panel 103 mounted within cover casing 101 for displaying a visual image thereon, and a stand member 105 supporting a lower part of cover casing 101.
Cover casing 101 includes a front cover 111, a rear cover 113 coupled to a rear side of front cover 111, and a space formed between front cover 111 and rear cover 113 for accommodating therein LCD panel 103. Front cover 111 is formed with an opening 121 through which a screen of LCD panel 103 displaying the visual image is exposed to an outside of the LCD monitor.
In FIG. 6, rear cover 113 is formed with air inlet slots 125 through which outdoor air flows into an inside of cover casing 101, and a terminal receptacle 127 providing a passage for a variety of peripherals and connection wires. Within cover casing 101 are mounted a panel bracket 115 supporting LCD panel 103, a main printed circuit board (PCB) assembly 117 transmitting electric signals, such as video signals for the visual images, to LCD panel 103, and a main PCB cover 119 protecting main PCB assembly 117.
Panel bracket 115 is coupled to front cover 111 to enclose four circumferential sides and a rear side of LCD panel 103 and to support LCD panel 103. Main PCB assembly 117 is coupled to a rear surface of panel bracket 115, and main PCB cover 119 is coupled to panel bracket 115 to enclose main PCB assembly 117.
The LCD monitor is provided with an OSD controller unit 130 allowing the user to control the OSD functions, such as brightness, size, and position of the screen of LCD panel 103 and to adjust color and vividness of the visual images, etc. On a lower portion of cover casing 101 is provided an OSD controller coupler 140 formed on an inner side of front cover 111 and coupled to OSD controller unit 130.
OSD controller coupler 140 includes a plurality of knob passing holes 141 and a screw-coupling boss 143 which are formed on a lower portion of front cover 111 below opening 121, and screw-coupling boss 143 protrudes from an inner side of front cover 111 adjacent to knob passing hole 141 toward rear cover 113. A thread is formed on a circumferential inner surface of screw-coupling boss 143.
OSD controller unit 130, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, includes a knob assembly 131 coupled to OSD controller coupler 140 and an OSD PCB assembly 135 coupled to a rear side of knob assembly 131. Knob assembly 131 includes a knob support frame 145 having a rectangular shape with predetermined width and length, a boss inserting hole 147 formed on knob support frame 145 corresponding to screw-coupling boss 143 to allow screw-coupling boss 143 to be inserted into boss inserting hole 147, and a plurality of press knobs 133 integrally formed on knob support frame 145 so as to be elastically supported by knob support frame 145.
Knob assembly 131 is assembled to front cover 111 when screw-coupling boss 143 of OSD controller coupler 140 is inserted into boss inserting hole 147 of knob assembly 131. When knob assembly 131 is coupled to OSD controller coupler 140, press knob 133 is inserted into knob passing hole 141 of OSD controller coupler 140 and protrudes from a front outer surface of front cover 111.
OSD PCB assembly 135 includes an OSD PCB 151 on which conductors are printed, a plurality of switches 153 (FIG. 8) provided lengthwise on a peripheral surface of OSD PCB 151 and in contact with the press knob 133, and a connection cable 155 extending from OSD PCB 151 so as to be coupled to main PCB assembly 117 for transmitting signals from OSD PCB 151 to main PCB assembly 117.
OSD PCB 151 and knob supporting frame 145 are the same in size and shape. A screw passing hole 152 (see FIG. 7) is formed on OSD PCB 151 in correspondence to screw-coupling boss 143. OSD PCB assembly 135 is assembled into knob assembly 131 by a screw 156 which passes through screw passing hole 152 so as to be coupled to a free end of screw-coupling boss 143 which passes through boss inserting hole 147 in knob support frame 145.
OSD PCB 151 is disposed perpendicular to a direction in which press knobs 133 move to contact respective switches 153 mounted on OSD PCB 151 (see FIG. 6). Because OSD PCB 151 is disposed parallel to front cover 111, LCD panel 103, and knob supporting frame 145, front cover 111 of the LCD monitor is required to have a height B large enough to provide room for OSD PCB 151 and knob support frame 145. Moreover, LCD panel 103 is disposed spaced-apart from a bottom of cover case 101 by the height B since the LCD monitor needs to provide a large volume of space for OSD controller unit 130.
OSD controller unit 130 is provided with a ground wire 160 for protecting the displaying apparatus from being damaged due to static electricity transmitted from the outside of the displaying apparatus through knob passing hole 141 as shown in FIG. 8. Ground wire 160 connects OSD PCB 151 of OSD controller coupler 130 to panel bracket 115 which functions as a ground. With this configuration, the static electricity transmitted from the outside of the displaying apparatus is discharged to panel bracket 115 through ground wire 160.
The conventional displaying apparatus, however, is required to provide a space corresponding to a height of knob supporting frame 145 and OSD PCB 151 for securing knob supporting frame 145 and OSD PCB 151 to the lower portion of front cover 111, since OSD PCB 151 of OSD PCB assembly 135 is coupled to knob supporting frame 145 in parallel and coupled to front cover 111 in perpendicular to the direction of movement of press knob 133.
Accordingly, it is disadvantageous to the outer appearance and the size of the displaying apparatus since the lower portion of the front cover 111 has a width greater than the height B of the knob supporting frame 145 and the OSD PCB assembly 135, as shown in FIGS. 5 thru 8. Moreover, when the OSD controller coupler 140 is assembled, the knob assembly 131 and the OSD PCB assembly 135 need to be manually coupled to the OSD controller 140 coupler by screws. Furthermore, the ground wire 160 is prepared additionally and connected between the OSD PCB assembly 135 and the panel bracket 115 by screws. Therefore, the number of complicated components increases, and the manufacturing cost of the conventional displaying apparatus increases due to the complicated manufacturing process.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved OSD controller assembly mounted in a displaying apparatus.
It is an object to provide an improved OSD controller assembly mounted in a displaying apparatus.
It is another object to provide an OSD controller assembly able to reduce the number of components.
It is still another object to provide an OSD controller assembly able to reduce the height of a peripheral portion of a front cover of the displaying apparatus.
It is yet another object to provide an OSD controller assembly able to be assembled into a slim displaying apparatus with a simplified process.
It is still yet another object to provide an OSD controller assembly occupying a reduced space within a displaying apparatus.
It is also an object to provide an OSD controller assembly able to make a displaying apparatus slim and compact.
It is a further object to provide an OSD controller assembly formed with a terminal contacting a ground without a ground wire when assembled.
These and other objects of the present invention may be achieved by providing a displaying apparatus mounted with an improved OSD controller assembly. The displaying apparatus includes an LCD panel, a front cover disposed in front of the LCD panel, at least one press knob formed along the circumference thereof, a panel bracket coupled to the front cover on a rear side of the LCD panel and supporting the LCD panel, and an OSD controller assembly mounted between the front cover and the LCD panel and having a support bracket made in a monolithic structure.
The support bracket includes a coupling member, a knob support extending from the coupling member, and an OSD PCB support extending from another end of the coupling member. The coupling member is coupled to any one of the front cover, the LCD panel, and the panel bracket when inserted between the front cover and the LCD panel. The knob support supports the press knob. The OSD PCB support supports a PCB unit including an OSD printed circuit board (PCB) which is disposed along a bottom side of the LCD panel, perpendicular to the front cover, and parallel to the direction of movement of the press knob contacting a corresponding switch mounted on the OSD PCB.
The coupling member of the support bracket is in the shape of an xe2x80x9c∩xe2x80x9d, both ends of which are elastically inserted between the front cover and the LCD panel and biased outwardly. The knob support and the PCB support are formed on both elastically outwardly biased ends of the coupling member, thereby allowing a support bracket to be fixed between the front cover and the LCD panel without a screw, etc.
The OSD PCB support includes a pair of holders extending from one elongated end of the coupling member and, alternatively, formed along the one elongated end of the coupling member. The holders are spaced-apart from each other and inwardly biased to support and hold the OSD PCB when receiving a peripheral portion of the OSD PCB. The PCB is disposed horizontally along, and parallel with, the bottom side of the LCD panel.
A ground terminal is formed between the OSD PCB support and the coupling member, and is disposed to contact the panel bracket, thereby preventing the displaying apparatus from being damaged due to static electricity transmitted from the outside of the displaying apparatus without coupling an additional and separate ground wire between the OSD PCB and the panel bracket. The OSD PCB support holds an insulation area of the PCB, thereby preventing the OSD PCB from being damaged due to the static electricity.
The support bracket is press-molded from a single metal plate. After the knob support and the OSD PCB support are formed on respective opposite ends of the support bracket, the support bracket is bent about a central line disposed between the knob support and the OSD PCB support to form the coupling member having the xe2x80x9c∩xe2x80x9d shape. The support bracket is inserted between the LCD panel and the front cover after the knobs are held by the knob support. The OSD PCB is inserted into the OSD PCB support so as to be disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the knob. Preferably, a plurality of knobs is provided along the lower circumference of the front cover, and the switches are disposed in corresponding positions so as to be in contact with, and activated by, the press knob.